In my humble opinion it is impossible to give a proper S-report in PSK-31. The signal strength as shown on the S-meter (for what that is worth) is that of the strongest station within the passband. With at times 8 - 10 stations working within 2.4 KC from 14.070 the S-meter reading does not say anything about the signal strength of the station you may be working.So I suggest that in PSK31 we do not exchange S-meter readings but only readability. Also the "quality" should not be expressed in a figure 1-9 like in CW but the IMD figure should be given routinely as part of the signal report. On QSL cards as a report we should give: R1-5 IMD xxx.I wonder what others think about this suggestion.

I think it's an excellent idea. I'm sick of having other stations give me RST reports on PSK31 and then coming back to tell them that I find it impossible to reciprocate! Instead of "Readability" it might be more informative to give a "Percent Copy" figure followed by an IMD figure. For example, "85-22" would indicate approximately 85% copy with an IMD figure of -22db.

If you use a narrow filter when receiving it is possible to get an S-meter indication from the station you are working. And not all software reports on IMD (and that figure is pretty inaccurate except when receiving a strong signal on a quiet band, IMO.)

But S-meters are all liars anyway. I've always given S9 for loud and clear, S5 for just in the clear and S7 for somewhere in between, whatever the mode.

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